03.11.2015.
The International Scientific Conference about the Great War in 1915 opened
Today, in the Central Military Club, a three-day international scientific conference "The Great War in 1915" was opened, organized by the Strategic Research Institute of the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Serbia and the Military History Institute and Museum of Vienna.The conference was opened by State Secretary at the Ministry of Defence Zoran Djordjevic, and the audience was addressed by Austrian Ambassador in Belgrade His Excellency Dr. Johannes Eigner, Dr. Milan Terzic of the Institute for Strategic Studies and Director of the Vienna Institute of Military History Colonel Mario Christian Ortner.
Secretary of State Djordjevic said that the First World War for a reason has the epithet "great" war - because of the number of victims and the way it was conducted. He pointed out that the most difficult year for Serbia was precisely 1915.
- In it, several hundred thousand people were killed, wounded or gone missing. That year was also marked by the typhus, a grave disease that brought about a huge number of victims. Therefore, Serbia has an obligation to our ancestors to mark each year of the Great War and for the year 1915 to be marked precisely at this conference. Such meetings are an ideal opportunity, with cool and on a rational basis, taking into account historical facts, to present and exchange research results, perspectives and attitudes of historians, in order to contribute to a better understanding of the complex war thematic - Djordjevic said, stressing that the tendency of constant tensions that had affected the 19th and 20th century should remain behind us as a part of our past.
According to Ambassador Eigner, the conference is a continuation of good cooperation between the Serbian and the Austrian Ministries of Defence, where the present historians will interpret the events of 100 years ago.
- When organizing such meetings, emotions are unavoidable, but our goal is, in the best way we can, to eliminate such emotions and to deal only with historical facts. The conference will, among other things, allow you for Austria and Serbia, although on completely different sides in the Great War, to reach a common vision of things about this event of global proportions, and different attitudes, previously known, may also exist - Ambassador of Austria said. Terzic said that science is a common good that has no boundaries, and that the conference will feature views on the centenary of the First World War presented by 34 historians from 14 countries.
- The conference is the best way to set various biases, prejudices, ideologies and politicization aside and commit to the scientific understanding of the historical events of 100 years ago – Terzic said.
The conference is attended by civilian and military historians from Serbia, Austria, Russia, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Hungary, Croatia, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Finland, Greece, and historians from Slovakia, Poland and Tunisia.The aim of the conference is to shed light on lesser-known events of 1915 in the Great War based on the latest research results. Thematically represented are Italian, Serbian, western and eastern fronts and fronts in Palestine and in the Caucasus, diplomatic negotiations about Italy and Bulgaria entering the war, neutral countries keeping aside, life behind the front line, the national issue, the media war.
The conference is a part of the state program to mark the centenary of the First World War. The organization was financially supported by the Federal Ministry of Defence and Sports of Austria and the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Serbia.
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